Stuck in Singapore: 24 hours with a Malaysian technician

SINGAPORE: Sumon Nuam wakes up at 6am in a daze, his body clock rousing him on automatic. At this time on a usual day, he’d be waiting for the school van with his two daughters, aged 9 and 17, at the foot of their apartment block in Johor Bahru, before beginning his two-hour motorcycle ride to work in Singapore.

Three nights ago, on March 17, the 45-year-old technician joined thousands of fellow Malaysians rushing to cross the Singapore-Malaysia land border before a two-week lockdown took effect the next day, as part of Malaysia’s efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19.When news of the movement control order broke, Sumon was faced with a painful choice: Stay home with his family and forgo two weeks of salary – or be separated from them for an unprecedented length of time.It really was no choice at all.

Sumon is a senior technician at OTO Wellness, where he has been handling after-sales service – such as fixing and maintaining the company’s massage and sporting products – for the last 20 years. His current team of three attend to an average of five customer requests a day. Sumon is among four of their Malaysian staff who chose to stay in Singapore following the travel restrictions . The others quickly found relatives or friends to put them up – but Sumon had no one.

Back in the office after the morning round, Sumon sneaks in a quick video call on his Oppo phone with his youngest daughter, Cherry. She turns nine today – and not being there for her birthday wrings an emotional moment from the normally phlegmatic Malaysian.Indeed, on March 17 even as he was rushing home from work in order to pack his things and get back to Singapore before the deadline, the first thing Sumon did when he entered JB was to stop and buy a birthday cake for Cherry.

From March 24, Singapore barred all short-term visitors from entering, save for work-pass holders providing essential services such as healthcare or transport.

Sedihnya lagi2 yg dah berkeluarga. Huhu

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